Israel Truth Week Vigil at York University – Day 2

On the second day of the vigil at York University we saw more people from Jewish organizations that came to support the event organized by Mark Vandermaas.

The second day of the vigil

Members of JDL-Canada brought to the event by its director Meir Weinstein stood with representatives of the Hamilton-based Never Again Group.

Meir Weinstein and Mark Vandermaas

There were also a few people who were not associated with the groups, but came to express their support.

Author Salomon Benzimra

The reception was favourable – many drivers honked as a sign of support. A few people stopped by to talk about the event. We had a long conversation with a York University student, who explained the situation at the institution. He described one of the main events of the recent Israeli Apartheid Week – a presentation by an Israeli student named Noa Shaindlinger. Despite her citizenship, that woman held outrageous anti-Semitic views, twisting facts to make the Palestinian terrorism look acceptable.

The long talk

When confronted by the Jewish students, who found her presentation offensive, she simply brushed them off without bothering to provide facts about her statements.

Despite the fact that such presentations are disguised as criticism of Israel and the Zionism, the bitter experience of many Jews is that eventually the “anti-Zionism” criticism gets so broad that everybody who is not ashamed to be a Jew becomes a target.

The need to confront and expose such views makes events like the York University vigil even more important.